Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding cake has finally been unveiled—and it’s one gorgeous dessert! London-based baker Claire Ptak and her team created a lemon elderflower cake for Harry and Meghan’s wedding’s reception.
Kensington Palace first shared the wedding cake plans back in March, revealing that Ptak, who was raised in California and now owns Violet Cakes in London, was selected to bake it. Many were surprised that the couple chose a lemon elderflower cake for their Windsor Castle reception , since most royal wedding cakes are traditionally fruit cake. But Harry and Meghan broke from tradition to choose a spring-inspired cake covered in buttercream and decorated with fresh flowers.
See the cake from every angle here:
A day before the wedding, the Palace shared photos and a video of Ptak’s team working on the cake in the Buckingham Palace kitchen. Even though they are baking and icing the cake at the Palace, Ptak revealed her team will assemble the cake at Windsor Castle on Saturday morning.
See the full video, including details on the cake recipe, below:
🎥 Watch as baker Claire Ptak begins work on the #RoyalWedding Cake! pic.twitter.com/OTdcF9hc0a
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) May 18, 2018
This isn’t the first royal wedding cake preview fans have received so far. A few days ago, Ptak posted a photo of lemon crates on her Instagram along with the caption “And so it begins 🍋”
According to the Kensington Palace Twitter account, Ptak “focuses on using seasonal and organic ingredients in her cakes.” It was also revealed that Markle had previously interviewed Chef Ptak on The Tig.
“Pastry Chef Claire Ptak has hit the nail on the head with her London bakery serving up delightful treats that have garnered a cult following (in that ever so civilized British way) in the UK and beyond,” Markle wrote on her now-shuttered lifestyle site back in 2015.
Prince Harry and Ms. Markle have asked Claire to create a lemon elderflower cake that will incorporate the bright flavours of spring. It will be covered with buttercream and decorated with fresh flowers.
— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) March 20, 2018
Prince Harry and Ms. Markle are looking forward to sharing the cake with guests at their wedding at Windsor Castle on May 19th.
— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) March 20, 2018
Earlier this year, Ptak shared the happy news on her Instagram as well.
“Kinda excited to announce this one!!” she teased in the caption. “Violet has been chosen to make the wedding cake for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. @kensingtonroyal They both share so many of the same values regarding food provenance, sustainability, seasonality and of course, flavour! Xxx”
Unlike American wedding cakes, the top tier of British wedding cakes is traditionally what we think of as a Christmas-style fruit cake, so it will last long enough to be served at the couple’s first child’s christening, making the lemon elderflower cake something of a departure from the norm. At their reception in 2011, Will and Kate served a groom’s cake made of chocolate biscuits in addition to a traditional eight-tiered wedding cake.